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Thursday, 3 January 2013

Resolutions

"We're going to need a bigger spreadsheet"

"Two men look out through the same bars, one sees the mud... and one the stars."

In my last post I chose to only mention the 'best bits' of 2012 and let the worst bits go. It seems like a good philosophy to focus on the positives - when looking back and also when living each new day.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine was telling me about the big list of things he was going after he retired from his main job the Friday before Christmas. The morning after his retirement, he died of a massive heart attack.

I'll say more about him next week when I can put some words together, but if nothing else, it makes you realise how precious time is, and if there are things you want to do you should be doing them now.

So my 2013 resolutions are mainly around being more focussed, better quality of life and - dare I say it? - legacy:

Relax more (may involve yoga)

Stop running over the same old ground

Stop faffing about and procrastinating

Spend more time actually writing*

Get a collection out (poetry and or flash fiction)

Live in the moment more

Go somewhere on my 'go to' list

Spend more time with people I care about

Experiment with imaginative, innovative ideas

Bring more smiles to the world

Have you made any resolutions or are you far too grown up for all that?

Oddly, I've noticed that everyone's resolutions actually boil down to the same as mine. 'This year it's my turn.' In other words, I'm going to stop doing things for other people and start doing what I want. On first sight it looks selfish, but you can't look after other people unless you're happy and healthy yourself. What will make you happy (and therefore more likely to be healthy) would be to get your book finished. So go do it! Happy new year.

I was hoping the 'spend more time with people I care about' would be nice for them as well as me! 8-)

Ahhh... you noticed I didn't mention the novel. I'm a bit paralysed by it at the moment and have lost my faith... hope to spend a bit of time on it over the next few weeks and see how I feel then. But thanks for noticing!

My friend's husband died over Christmas. It really does make you take stock, as you say. I want to get a collection out, too, and perhaps put it on Amazon Kindle to see what happens. As you suggest, this does mean 'actually' writing!! [Ah, there's the rub.] But I'm trying to write a new novel as well. That seems to demand some writing, oddly.

Yes, the online collection definitely seems the way forward. I haven't tried yet but will do some research and share it with you if I find some useful guidelines. I keep thinking I shouldn't really start a new novel until I've finished the old one, but I think I might have a secret NaNoWriMo of my own secretly this year. Shhhhh.

Yes, JL was telling us what we already know, wasn't he? I never bother with resolutions, and my planning is always so tenuous, it only really qualifies as dreaming. Still, dreaming isn't a bad way to fill your time, however long that may be.

My condolences for your loss. As writers we always seem to be battling inertia, self-belief and time-stealers. Perhaps that never changes and we just have to accept those 'companions' on the journey. Wishing you and everyone else here a 2013 of creative adventure.